It’s hard enough being a single buyer and competing with dual-income buyers and investors, but spare a thought for our single females, experts say.
Census data reveals a significant gender pay gap across Australia’s suburbs and towns, with single women facing reduced borrowing power in all but 12 locations.
Analysis by Stop Renting Australia reveals the greatest pay difference in any area, of locations with at least 100 men and women, can be found in is in Ashburton, WA, where the average weekly income for men is $2568 a week, compared with $1196 for women.
This equates to a difference of $58,132.88 a year, putting female purchasers on a single income severely on the backfoot when in competition with a single-income man from the same suburb.
Single-income females in Moranbah, QLD weren’t far behind, with the second-highest difference in earning, and by extension, borrowing power, bringing in some $55,497 less than their male counterparts each year.
Women are on the backfoot in many areas when competing for homes against men who earn more than them. Picture: Getty Images
In New South Wales, women earned $33,472.40 less than men, just ahead of the $32,653.40 earning shortfall they face in the Balgowlah-Clontarf-Seaforth area.
In Victoria, women face the greatest disadvantage when it comes to saving a deposit versus men in the Point Cook-South area.
Here they earn $34,485.88 less per year than men in the same area.
In South Australia, the area with the greatest difference between men and women is Roxby Downs, where the average weekly income for men is $2294 a week, compared with $1287 for women.
This equates to a difference of $52,369.72 a year, putting female purchasers on a single income severely on the backfoot when in competition with a single-income man from the same suburb.
Single-income females in Beaumont-Glen Osmond experience the second-highest difference in earning, and by extension, borrowing power, bringing in some $25,487.64 less than their male counterparts each year.
In the NT it’s Nhulunbuy, where women earn $28,558.92 less a year, and in Tasmania it’s the West Coast area where they make $20,723.56 less on average.
MORE NEWS
$660k Aussie home loan record forces first-home buyer rethink
The statistic that should terrify all homeowners
Southern Ocean Lodge link to Adelaide development revealed
Shock result as council forcibly sells 57 properties to recoup unpaid rates
This 100 pound Adelaide home just sold for how much?
How a simple change at the supermarket can get you into a home faster
Stop Renting Australia marketing and brand manager Tabitha Greaves said the gender pay gap exposed in the data was unsurprising.
“It’s a sad predicament,” she said.
“Seeing those stats across the nation, it’s not ideal and unfortunately it’s not a surprise and I feel like if you speak to any woman in any marketplace this won’t come as a surprise and sadly it affects everything else in life … it affects getting into property and I feel that gap which is quite stark in some areas needs to be bridged,” she said.
“We need to close the gap.”
Buying a home is hard enough, and that’s even before you consider there’s an earning disparity across the genders. Picture: Getty Images
Ms Greaves said many justified the gender divide issue in terms of celebrities or on sports fields, but that it hits much closer to home than many, particularly men, might think.
“Currently to qualify for a $747,000 home, a single applicant has to be on $142,000 and you need to have a five per cent deposit, with no kids and no debts,” she said.
“That’s a unicorn, and let’s just say you’re a single mum – she’s disqualified because she’s a single applicant with dependants.
“With the gender wage gap, it doesn’t just affect your take home pay, it means lower savings which means slower savings, smaller borrowing limits and all of these things amount to fewer options, and that’s why we’re seeing a lot of single applicants and single women renting for longer.”
Surprisingly, the data revealed there were 12 areas where women’s borrowing capacity gave them an edge over their male counterparts.
Women face a significant disadvantage to men in some areas, but the good news is home ownership is still achievable. Pic: Getty Images
Of those areas where women out-earn men, all of them were in regional and remote locations, with the greatest gap being on Queensland’s Palm Island, where women earn $9413.04 more than men each year – resulting in a significantly higher borrowing potential, and potentially placing them at an advantage when up against a single male from the same area.
The APY Lands in SA, were the second highest, with women earning $5190.12 more than men annually, and, in the same state, female residents in Coober Pedy were $2917.72 ahead of their male competition.
MORE NEWS
How much you need to save to buy in every Australian suburb
This 100 pound property just sold for how much?
Block fever sparks mad rush for rundown homes
Aussie island property selling for a steal – but there’s a catch
New South Wales has one area where women out-earn men, Lord Howe Island, Queensland has another four – Yarrabah, Aurukun, Torres and the Torres Strait Islands – the NT has the Tiwi Islands and East Arnhem, and the ACT has Duntroon and “no usual address”.
Ms Greaves said it was encouraging to see some women actually out-earning men in some areas.
“I think it’s cool – I think that’s a fist pump in the air kind of moment,” she said.
“At the end of the day it’s not a competition, it’s about affordability and it’s about us bringing as much value to the marketplace as a man would and so I think being recognised for your value – that’s what all of us want at the end of the day, whether you’re male or female,” she said.
“And it’s really cool when an area has women doing well in the market, but it shouldn’t be just these small areas for small wins.”
Courtney Turner, who has recently bought her own home, at her rental property. Pic Roy VanDerVegt
Courtney Turner, 40, has just bought a house and land package in Seaton, South Australia, as a single mum, after having previously owned a home with a former partner.
She said the path to home ownership had been challenging.
“It’s degrading and discriminating to know I earn less than a man, and that just puts me at more of a disadvantage when trying to buy a home,” she said.
“But I’m proud that I’ve done it, and if I can give one woman in the same situation the slightest bit of hope that they can do it too then that would be my dream come true because it is hard but we can do it.”
Blackfish Finance founder Leah Busby.
Black Fish Finance founder and mortgage broker Leah Busby, who helped Ms Turner buy a home, said saving a deposit was a challenge for most buyers.
“It’s all about doing the best you can to save and then getting good advice and really either you, or an expert, shopping around to get the best deal you can,” she said.
“Most buyers want to buy in the suburb they grew up in and where their parents still live, and in a lot of instances it’s about trying to broaden that thinking to find more affordable alternatives.”
English (US) · 